The climate-change experiment | The Economist

Climate-change experts are researching ways to cool down the planet using geoengineering. How could spraying chemicals into the stratosphere help counteract global warming?

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What if you discovered a way to cool down the planet? Extreme weather events are becoming more common and more ferocious. As the surface temperature of earth continues to rise, so too will the ferocity of natural disasters.

In 2018 scientists will take bold steps to explore a technology that could reverse the effects of climate-change. They’re looking at ways to reflect sunlight back into space and cool down the planet.

Insurers say the number of weather-related disasters has quadrupled since 1970. While world leaders are debating and disputing climate-change and the ways in which humans alter their behaviour on earth, some scientists discuss changes to the earth itself.

In 2018, they’ll take to the stratosphere to learn what it might take – or cost – to cool the planet directly. Geoengineering is the pioneering science that could well be on everyone’s lips in 2018.

The team from Harvard University is the first in the world to test the effects solar geoengineering might have in the stratosphere.

The experiments in 2018 won’t impact the climate, but if one day implemented, this controversial intervention could help curb extreme weather events.

Solar geoengineering has the potential to save lives, but it also poses unknown risks. And there are fears that merely researching geoengineering might be detrimental to the long-term fight against climate-change.

Some environmentalists say that the drive to reduce carbon dioxide emissions could be lost if there’s seen to be a quick fix.

And deciding who controls a technology that affects everyone on the planet won’t be easy. Ultimately solar geoengineering could prove a risk not worth taking. But ignoring it now could be even more dangerous.

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20 thoughts on “The climate-change experiment | The Economist”

  1. Democrats started climate change, in order to hurt republicans pocketbooks, smart, but it's not going to work as the republicans actually understand how economics work.

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  2. Why are scientific opinions on climate change drawn sharply along the political lines between liberals and conservatives? Those that push fear of climate change also push gender fluidity and open borders. Weird?

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  3. Hi! I meant to also say they should make all forms of public transportation free, and promote intercity electric cars one can use for an hour. That would be a great investment to reduce pollution and get a lot of people not to drive a 2,000 pound vehicle with one person in it.

    Reply
  4. I read a British scientist was proposing to create mechanical stations that extract the CO2 and replace it with oxygen. He said in World War II they proved in a short time with a great manufacturing effort we created a vast amount and array of planes, boats, weapons… and he said it would have to be done on that scale, a major effort. This would be better than adding foreign agents to the atmosphere. I really hope they stop them somehow from doing it, but probably some big corporation will step in as they could make a lot of money selling the agent and push it forward via lobbyists etc. At least with the mechanical means they are not adding strange agents to the atmosphere, just reducing CO2 and adding oxygen as we will run short on oxygen the way it's going and to regulate it to attain an optimum balance. Also work from the pollution end of it too and not mess with nature and let nature resume its job… and well, we are nature. I like how a Lakota Sioux man told me that humans are not the pinnacle of nature we are a part of it equally with all life.

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  5. The climate was perfectly fine until (your owner) Rothschild's minions began spraying heavy metals, nanobots, dessicated blood cells and all kinds of other shit up there, which has been ongoing for atleast twenty years.

    This has everything to do w/ transhumanism.

    research: Morgellon's Disease to discover the true agenda of chemtrailing.
    Harald Kautz-Vella is your best starting point
    Cliff Carnicom too

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  6. Order out of Chaos ! Hitler !! He said ( tell a big enough lie ! Many many times ! And they will believe it ! ) Yes we messed up much of earth. But man destroying Earth ? And chemtrails not existing yet ? They haven't been spraying the skies for many years ? Do any of you people ever actually look at your sky ? A question ?? When I was a kid ! There was only three types of clouds . Now ? There or over 20. That in just the last year ! Ever The Weather Channel had to come out and make new or try to name them ! Most you say you want to help. But don't see what is going on. They know ( The powers that should not be ) !! They can feed you shit and you will love it. Wake up !!

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  7. Real people in their tens and hundreds of millions will suffer dire respiratory implications leading to death. Oh, i forgot to mention how this has been going on for decades already and respiratory problems are going through the roof even in the supposed clean country side. Just criminal!

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  8. This is just cruel and inhuman!! They’re spaying our sky with chemicals and we’re breathing it. They’re the ones changing out weather and controlling us and our planet. Making us paying more TAXES on this “GLOBAL WARMING” come on really!!! It’s not real global warming it’s a lie to make us feel guilty and spend more money of eco friendly products for a lie! Something we can’t control but they can!! Chem trails are everywhere we’re breathing it and getting sick. #wedonotconsent

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  9. this has been going on for 20 years… your car is not why the climate is so whacky, its because theyve been already doing this!

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  10. Any abnormal phenomenon needs to balance…
    Please read my comment at this adress (natural disaster :3hree news signs of thing update 24th August 2017 leaky,swi )…
    Yousif Ayoub Tobiya
    Forcibly displaced

    Reply
  11. I for one do not think it will work. If particles can reflect light away from the earth they can reflect it back again. Think of a space blanket. I believe they will on average contain as much energy as they reflect. I can't say for sure, I definitely did not do a study or any experimentation to back this statement up, but it seems likely to me.

    Also… Once the problem has been solved you do not want to push climate change in the other direction again. So whatever solution is used needs to be easily reversible. That is a definite fact.

    I think the very best solution would be if we could develop a process to cheaply extract carbon from the atmosphere and turn it into large quantities of affordable Graphene and Carbon fibre. If carbon fibre becomes cheaper than fibreglass, or even wood then you know it will be used for a whole mess of applications. Maritime, auto, aero, construction, etc… And cheap and plentiful graphene would be just as beneficial for tech including solar and battery/capacitor. If anybody develops such a process then I would urge them to license it affordably, because the industry would be huge so even a relatively small slice of that pie would be enormous.

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  12. These fucking evil bastards have no right to ruin the planet! we all know about thier seedy chemtrails they have been doing on us for years.They do shit like this and have a weather control machine.They cunts are traitors to mankind.Spraying us with barium everyday and saying its for climate change does not cut it!

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  13. Okay, one question: if these stuff are considerably large, how are we gonna launch rockets? They're essentially "useful" space debris. Or if they're opting for nano-sized particles, how are they gonna make sure that we won't breathe that stuff in?

    Captains?

    Reply

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